


Don't catch feelings

by pastelserpent



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crushes, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Ice Skating, Post-Hogwarts, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28750572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelserpent/pseuds/pastelserpent
Summary: “he’s the ‘don’t catch feelings’ type, he won’t return them,” she shook her head at my cynicism, “maybe he just needs a little prompting,” sighing I guided us towards the side of the rink, “I doubt that highly, he really isn’t interested in anyone, I think he might already have an eye on someone.” Her eyebrow silently, “the way he’s looking over at us would suggest otherwise,” turning to look in his direction, I watched as he quickly diverted his eyes, “that might have something to do with the fact you made us skate past him incredibly slowly, while you scrutinised every part of him,” she shrugged nonchalantly.*1st person perspective** hope you like it :)
Relationships: Cedric Diggory/Reader
Kudos: 9





	Don't catch feelings

The magic ice rink in the centre of London was one of my favourite locations for winter and working as an ice chaperon was always a nice way to pass the season of winter. The second to last group of skaters had just been cleared off the ice, and they were in the process of smoothing it out for the next group of skaters. Exhaustion was yet to set in for me, and I instead stood to the side of the rink with the rest of the chaperones, on the smaller ice rink – which was always closed to the public. 

Some of the chaperones were also from the European schools like me – roughly half, and the other half were from Hogwarts, having not attended Hogwarts, it was a new experience to meet so many of them, but the majority were agreeable and friendly, and working alongside them was easy. The ice rink was an inside one thankfully, though that didn’t mean it wasn’t cold. 

Dozens of glasses and jars with fireflies were hanging from the ceiling, while the onsite café was decked out in seasonal decoration, and a spell for continual snowflakes hung above the whole of the rink. Adjusting the hoodie I wore for chaperoning (with chaperon emblazoned across the back in large letters), I ran a hand through my hair, my eyes scouring the crowd; as Fleur had said she’d drop by tonight to skate and catchup.

It was insane to think that we had been friends for over ten years – since we first met when we were 11, and even more insane that she was already engaged while I remained a single pringle. Her pale smooth blonde hair should’ve been easy to pick out, but in the crowds of excited skaters, it was hard to find. Knowing I’d have to find it later, I followed the rest of the chaperones out onto the ice, beginning to taint the overly smooth ice. 

While the group of skaters borrowed skates for the occasion, most of the chaperones were used to ice skating (you had to be to be a useful chaperone), and had their own skates, my skates were a simple pale blue with gold decoration – almost identical to the pair I had had at Beauxbatons. Many of the European chaperones would skate talking in their respective languages, and I found myself often talking to the chaperones from Durmstrang – due to the many projects that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang did together – plus my family relations in northern Europe, who made a point of teaching me the necessary languages. 

Dimitri was one of my friends from Durmstrang, and we had been friends since we had met in the fifth year, it was good to have a friendly face, even if I did work at the rink regularly. “hey, skating beauty,” he teased, as the crowds from the next skater group all joined the ice, many of them promptly falling over at how smooth the surface was, creating a domino effect, we both winced, skating over next to each other to begin to help up the fallen. I could just imagine Fleur’s giggles at the lack of balance these people had – though we all had to start somewhere, and we had been lucky that Beauxbatons offered such high-class skating lessons. 

Helping up the crowd, and then watching them continue skating around the rink, Mitri skated next to me, “so any plans for tonight?” I asked, watching as a few brave skaters separated from the safety of the rink wall, and instead began skating into the centre of the rink, barely managing to stay upright. “going to go home, see my girlfriend, probably try and avoid a phone call from my mother demanding to know when we will get ‘serious,’” I giggled quietly, as Mitri scoffed, “we’ve been serious for months,” he stated flatly, skating over to a fallen teen, to help them back to their feet, only to raise an eyebrow at the puppy eyes the teen made at him. 

Once they were back on their feet, he skated back to me, raising his eyebrow at me, “you must just be that hot that they all want to fall over for you to help,” he shook his head sighing, knowing that had happened ever since we had started working here. “I don’t see that happening to you,” I laughed quietly, “how many boys do you know who purposely want to look clumsy to get me to help them?” he shrugged nonchalantly, “Viktor would happily drop to his knees for you,” I laughed flipping him off, “Viktor would drag me down with him,” he smirked in agreement, knowing that me and Viktor were always brother-sister type friends. 

“seriously though y/n, you must want someone to cuddle you at this time of year,” I shrugged snuggling further into my hoodie, “I can cope just fine on my own,” he shook his head, as we separated to go and help different people back onto their skates. Glancing down at my skates, I skated around the inside of the rink several times, as many of the skaters were still clinging onto the side, “y/n!” I heard a voice call, turning around I spotted Fleur waving to me from the corner of the rink, skating over to her, and avoiding the majority of the people who were still clinging onto the side, I stopped ahead of her. 

“hey there!” she giggled, climbing onto the rink and straightening up easily, she had definitely put the skating lessons to good use, “you have so much to catch me up on,” she commented as we skated away from the edge of the rink and began circling the large rink along with the rest of the chaperones, “who is that cute one over there?” she asked pointing over to one of the Hogwarts chaperones, “ummm that one, is Cedric, he’s one of the Hogwarts chaperones,” she nodded. “He’s very cute,” she promoted, waiting for some sort of reaction, “he is, but he also isn’t into anyone here like that,” I explained quietly, digging my hands further into the pocket on my hoodie. 

“is he taken?” she asked, I shook my head, skating over to help someone up while she waited where we had been skating, “then he’s fair game,” she replied, “so what if he doesn’t appear interested in anyone, how could anyone not be interested in someone as stunning as you,” I rolled my eyes fondly, “you’re bias,” she shrugged as we continued skating. “let’s go past him, I want a good look,” she grabbed my hand, and pulled us in his direction, going past him slowly, so that she could scrutinise every angle of him, I rolled my eyes at her less than subtle attempt, and sped up as we went past, to help up a fallen child.

Helping the child up, and then returning to her side I shook my head, “he’s the ‘don’t catch feelings’ type, he won’t return them,” she shook her head at my cynicism, “maybe he just needs a little prompting,” sighing I guided us towards the side of the rink, “I doubt that highly, he really isn’t interested in anyone, I think he might already have an eye on someone.” Her eyebrow silently, “the way he’s looking over at us would suggest otherwise,” turning to look in his direction, I watched as he quickly diverted his eyes, “that might have something to do with the fact you made us skate past him incredibly slowly, while you scrutinised every part of him,” she shrugged nonchalantly, “I've seen that look in a man’s eye before, he’s interested.” 

She declared it with confidence, while I sniggered quietly, watching several of the magic snowflakes drop onto my hoodie and into my hair, “probably interested in you,” I replied beginning to skate again, knowing Fleur would catch up to me with ease, “girl he’s interested in you, it’s so obvious. Does he know all the skating you can do?” I shook my head, “you should show him after work then,” she stated, clapping her hands excitedly, “slow down there, sweetie, he’s got a girl picking him up tonight,” her face dropped slightly, “where is she?” I groaned rolling my eyes, “god knows, she usually arrives before I leave,” she smirked, “good, I’ll wait for you,” I looked at her in shock, “girl I'm heading back to my apartment after this, you don’t gotta stay,” her eyebrow rose silently. “I gotta see what this girl looks like, I bet she’s nothing compared to you.”

Sighing I skated over to help someone, watching Fleur skate on ahead, maybe Cedric was interested in me, but him and this girl who picked him up looked pretty close, so I doubted it. Helping the person up and smiling at them before I skated off, passing by Cedric who had just helped up a teenage girl, “y/n!” he called out, hurriedly skating away from the girl, “hey Ced,” he smiled, “don’t freak out okay,” he murmured placing an arm over my shoulder, I looked up at him in shock – but the girl didn’t notice, and instead skated on past, her nose a little higher in the air than it had been. His arms dropped back to his side, and he placed his hands in the hoodie pocket, “sorry about that, she kept insisting I help her up, and help her skate around the rink,” I laughed quietly, “that’s sweet,” he shook his head. 

“it’s cringe,” I laughed again, skating at the same pace as Cedric, “any plans for after work?” he asked keeping a small gap between us, but nothing substantial compared to the distance he had been trying to put between him and the girl from before. “probably going to go and heat up some food, maybe read or game, and then sleep,” we wouldn’t clock off much before 11pm, and with a paper for school due the following day, I knew I couldn’t stay up too long, “what about you?” he shrugged, “my cousin is coming to pick me up as we have some late night family event,” I raised my eyebrow curiously, “quidditch world cup highlights,” I nodded slowly, “I won’t be staying up for that,” he laughed quietly. 

“I wouldn’t stay up, but it’s kind of a family tradition, and a class paper needs something about a government event, the quidditch world cup seemed like a fairly safe bet; especially as I played on the quidditch team in secondary school,” I nodded again. “did you do any sports in secondary school?” he asked, looking at me in a way that made him look genuinely interested in hearing the answer, “a little,” I replied, “we had to do horse riding for a couple of years, and then I focused solely on ice skating,” he nodded understandingly, shivering slightly. 

Reaching for my wand, I cast a warming charm on him, watching a small blush rise to his cheeks, “thanks,” I nodded, “so you did ice skating? Anything high level?” I shrugged, “I can do tricks if that is what you meant, we used to have a gala every year to show off our skills, stuff like that, we always had to perform, but I did enjoy it.” He nodded again as I looked up at the clock and realised only half an hour was left of the current groups’ skating session, and then we would be free to go home, “I’ll be back” he murmured, skating off in the direction of one of the other Hogwarts chaperones while I caught up to Fleur, “you two looked cosy,” she commented, a smirk stitched across her face. “his cousin is the girl who picks him up,” I stated ignoring her comment, she smiled self-satisfied, “good, then he is into you,” I rolled my eyes, “your logic worries me sometimes.”

She laughed skating off to go and talk to Dimitri, while I circled the rink several times alone. A few moments later and I was joined by Cedric again, “your friend seems like a very fast skater,” he commented as Fleur and Mitri zoomed on ahead, “it makes me wonder why she skated past me so slowly,” for a moment I pretended not to have heard him. “she wanted to see the Hogwarts students, see if she recognised any of them from when Beauxbatons visited for the Triwizard cup,” his eyebrow rose slowly as I explained some of Fleur’s ‘reasoning,’ “and did she recognise me?” he asked as we slowed to help a fallen couple, “I don’t know,” I replied honestly. 

“only I’d have thought she’d recognise one of her competitors,” while at Beauxbatons I had paid very little attention to the tournament, only properly focusing on Fleur, and paying her competitors – and the other schools – very little attention. But now as I focused on the man beside me, I recognised the teenager that many of my friends had been swooning over, “Cedric Diggory,” I mumbled, the realisation suddenly dawning on me, he laughed quietly. I thought for a moment as we continued skating, wondering why I had never made the connection before, when he had first arrived at the rink, and the only possible reason was that he had introduced himself as ‘Cedric from Hogwarts,’ and left it at that. 

At Beauxbatons we were used to going to school alongside the sons and daughters of the wealthiest wizarding families from across Europe and were used to working with Viktor Krum and other famous students from Durmstrang. Maybe being around the wealthy and famous had meant I had forgotten what it was like for someone to introduce themselves by their first name rather than their title or profession. “must be weird being the Hogwarts champion and then working at an ice rink,” I commented as the buzzer to signify the end of the skating session sounded,

we stayed on the ice while several of the other chaperones went to open the gate for the skaters to get back off the ice, and the look of relief on some of their faces was how I would feel after twelve hours of sleep. With all the skaters returning their skates and filing out of the building, we set about leaving the rink ourselves. Climbing off the ice I put the covers back on my skates and began walking towards the staff locker room, Mitri was already at the door, and held it open for me, before following me inside, “good night?” he asked teasingly as we sat opposite each other on the benches and began pulling off our skates.

“it was good,” I replied simply, putting my skates into their designated bag, and pulling my coat over the top of my hoodie, while I set about tying back on my trainers. “any plans for Cedric?” he asked teasingly, and I was glad that the rest of the chaperones had either left already or were tidying up their designated section of the rink, “nope,” I replied popping the p, as I stood up. Slinging the backpack that I had bought with me over my shoulder, I clutched the other bag with my skates in, waiting for Mitri to hurry up so that we could go. 

Heading out of the staff locker room, and back towards the rink I saw Cedric’s cousin had already arrived, and had clearly been scrutinised already, as Fleur had engaged her in conversation, and shot me a wink when she saw my reappearance. “y/n,” Cedric’s voice broke my thoughts, and I turned to look at him, “it was nice talking to you tonight,” his charming smile hadn’t changed since the tournament, and I managed a small smile in return, “thanks, it was nice talking to you too, enjoy the quidditch highlights,” he nodded smiling at me again in a way that had had almost all of Beauxbatons students’ hearts fluttering. 

Smiling once more I made my way over to Fleur, who had only just stopped talking to Cedric’s cousin, “she’s nice,” she commented quietly, watching the cousin walk up to Cedric and wrap an arm around him. “mhmm,” I replied, “see you tomorrow,” and with one final look around the rink, I apparated back to my apartment. 

…

Back at the rink, and once again watching the last group of skaters attempt to stay upright as they slid around the rink, clutching the side, I stretched wearily. What I wouldn’t give to skate quickly around the rink, landing perfect jumps like I had been taught to, once again spaced out, I barely realised who was beside me, as I completed another slow lap of the Olympic sized rink. “you look delighted to be here,” Cedric teased skating up beside me, his arms tucked into the chaperone hoodie, “I'm bored,” I replied, gliding further around the rink, “welcome to chaperoning,” he commented, my eyebrow rose wryly, as I stopped to help a woman who had been knocked over by two children skating past her considerably faster than she was. 

“so, I was thinking,” I commented as we began skating around the rink again, “would you like to join me tonight? I'm going to go to this really good food truck not far from here, and you’re welcome to come with me,” usually I would’ve shied away at being so bold but being at Beauxbatons had taught me that sometimes you just had to be brave. “I’d love to come with you,” Cedric replied smiling down on me for a moment, and I smiled in response, skating beside him at the same pace, my hands buried in the pocket on my hoodie, “you look freezing,” he commented, I shrugged attempting to stop a shiver, he smiled reaching for his wand and casting a strong warming charm on me.

I muttered a grateful thanks, surprised that the cold of the ice rink was affecting me for once, the rest of the hour went by surprisingly fast, and soon we were helping the last few off the ice, before closing the rink and getting changed into our normal shoes. Placing my skates into their bag and shrinking the bag to fit into my patch covered backpack, I pulled my coat back over my hoodie, and shook out my hair, glancing myself over in the mirror as Mitri watched from behind me critically. “enjoy your hot date,” he commented eyes twinkling, I rolled my eyes, ruffling his hair on my way out of the locker room and to where Cedric was stood behind the counter of the hire skates, putting the last pair back where they should be. 

“let me go grab my shoes and then we can go,” I nodded, perching on the counter and staring at the boots I had chosen to match with my black jeans, “y/n!” I looked up startled, expecting to be shouted at for perching on the counter, but was instead engulfed in a hug by the rink owner’s son. “Leo!” he laughed standing in front of me and wrapping me into his arms against his rock-hard chest, “long time no see,” he laughed again, perching on the counter beside me, “for real, it’s good to see you’re still working here, we need your kind of talent,” I rolled my eyes fondly, “look at you trying to sweeten me up.”

Nudging him gently in the ribs – though I knew he wouldn’t feel anything through his thick puffer coat – I glanced towards the locker room door, “got a hot date tonight?” he teased knowingly, “you and Mitri shouldn’t be friends,” I replied, brushing a piece of my hair out of my face, “ah but who else would’ve helped you perfect your demonology and magical governments assignment,” he replied running a hand through his neat black hair. “I'm sure Viktor would’ve,” Leo laughed again, “unless you had the golden snitch hidden in that pretty hair of yours, he would’ve been distracted,” I laughed again, leaning back on the counter, waiting for any sign of Cedric. 

Several moments later and having finished talking with Leo – who had disappeared in the direction of his father’s office, Cedric appeared, “was that Leo?” he asked, as I hopped off the counter, I nodded, as we waved to the rest of the chaperones before walking out into the cold night air, “he’s never here normally,” Cedric commented. I shrugged, “probably had another job to do,” I replied, unlike most of the chaperones, Leo was already in work, earning his university qualifications as he worked his way up the ministry departments, currently supervising the shops of Knockturn Alley – as he was the only official who could walk down the alley without being cursed by the shop owners. 

The cold night air softened once we were away from the rink, “so where is this food truck?” Cedric asked as we began walking towards the foodie area of the city, “here,” I replied smiling, as I lead him up to the food truck in question which already had several groups of people crowded on the tables in front of it. “what is this food?” he asked quietly as we approached the truck, “just wait and see, it’s good,” I promised handing over the money for two sets of food, and smiling at Cedric’s fallen expression, “I should pay though.” He protested, I waved my hand away from him, taking the two boxed meals from the person serving and grabbing the plastic knives and forks, led him to a table away from everyone else. 

“nonsense, I asked you to come with me, therefore I pay,” I replied stubbornly, watching him settle opposite me, and then lift the lid on the metal container that the food came in, “what is this?” he asked, looking at the box in slight confusion, “it’s called kapsalon,” I explained, “or Gerecht,” he looked at me in confusion, “how do you know about it?” he asked, as I opened my own box, and used the fork to move around the top layer of veggies. “one of my dormmates was Dutch, and whenever she had come back from the Netherlands, she’d always ask if we could have this one night a month, it’s really good. It’s veggies, shawarma meat, French fries and cheese, and believe me, it tastes good, even if it doesn’t always look that appetising,” 

his eyebrow rose, before he stabbed is fork into it and took a bite, chewing for a moment before groaning in delight. “okay, I’ll agree, that is good,” I nodded self-satisfied, as I dug my own fork into the food, and began eating the layer of veggies down to the shawarma and then the fries. “so, you said about the tournament, do you regret doing it?” I asked genuinely curious and also not wanting to discuss my ice-skating abilities in any level of detail, “sometimes,” he admitted, “I took this girl to the ball who I liked at the time, but she wasn’t that into me,” I barely remembered the girl he was talking about, seeing as I had spent almost the entire evening with Mitri. 

“mmmm,” I murmured in reply, raising the fork to my mouth, “I don’t really regret signing up, I just regret how I handled things during that time. Like scaring my family, going to the ball with someone who wasn’t really into me, stuff like that,” I nodded understandingly, I was still yet to stop wanting to slap Fleur for her stupidity in entering the tournament to begin with. She had been very lucky in my opinion. “where were you during the tournament?” Cedric asked, “hiding behind someone with closed eyes,” I muttered in response, not that it was particularly far from the truth, I had avoided as much of the action as I could but also helped Fleur wherever possible. “behind Mitri or Leo?” he asked, “something like that.” 

Remembering distinctly how I had often hid behind Leo during the particularly horrible parts of the trials, “onto something else, why did you start working at the rink?” I thought for a moment, taking a swig from the bottle of water in front of me, and recrossed my legs, “I needed a job to subsidise my studies, and it seemed like a good place to work, I could already ice skate, so I didn’t need to pay for lessons or anything like that, and I knew a few students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang already worked there, so I’d know a few people. It just seemed like a pretty safe bet,” he nodded after I finished talking, 

“what about you?” he shrugged, taking another bite of kapsalon before answering, “one of my friends suggested it, said it was a good job and pretty straight forward, he did downplay the workload somewhat but it’s a good job and I like it. Plus, I always need to fund my studies, and on top of bar work it seemed okay,” I nodded in the same way he had, wondering how gruelling his schooling must be if he was able to hold down two jobs simultaneously and still study with some degree of success. Resting my chin in my hand, I glanced behind him, watching as muggles and wizards alike strolled about their business, finishing up their day before heading home for sleep. “plans for tonight?” I asked, taking another sip of water, Cedric shrugged for a moment, before thinking, “head home and probably sleep off this food,” I laughed quietly, “but did you enjoy it?” he nodded, a smile breaking across his face, “I told you it was good.”

He laughed, placing our now empty cartons inside each other and then walked to the bin, dumping them in their before sitting back down on the bench, as the people at the other tables slowly began to disperse and head home. “thanks for agreeing to come with me,” he smiled in return, “no problem, thanks for asking me. You were right, kapsalon is delicious, and I had a really good time getting to know you away from the rink,” I smiled back at him, “it’s been a lot of fun,” I agreed as we walked away from the truck and back towards the rink, waiting until we were in the deserted carpark. “have a good night Cedric,” he smiled down at me, “you too y/n,” I smiled back at him keen not to drag out the awkwardness that was beginning to form, “see you next time,” with a final smile I apparated away and back to my apartment. 

….

Waking up coughing, my head pounding, and chest hurting, I groaned at the thought of school. Attempting to charm away the headache long enough to look over my schedule I realised that school would be possible, and the classes were pre-recorded for the particular day anyway, but there was no way I would make it to the rink, and with that thought in mind, I grabbed my muggle phone to call the ice rink and tell my boss I wouldn’t make it to work. Flopping back onto my bed, I reached for my wand and summoned a bottle of water and my laptop, realising that working from my bed and being as comfortable as possible was likely the only solution to make myself feel better for work the following day. And with that, I crawled back under the covers, perching my laptop beside me for my lecture.

….

Arriving at work, with the headache gone and a mild cough, I had wrapped up for the occasion, decked out in warming charms, and with the hoodie that I had on, pulled down as far as it would go over my leggings, along with a scarf wrapped around my neck, I walked into the ice centre. “there she is!” Leo was at my side in an instant, wrapping me into a hug, “hi,” I said through a quiet cough, “feeling better yet?” he asked as we walked towards the staff locker room, his arm wrapped around my shoulder, “not really, but I can stand up right so it’s fine,” he rolled his eyes at me, “if you don’t feel well you shouldn’t be here.” 

I shrugged, “I'm fine, besides, skating might make me feel better,” he looked at me unconvinced as I sat down on one of the benches and swapped out of my trainers and into my skates instead, “you should come in early on your next shift and do some proper skating, it would do you some good to do more than just skate around the rink.” I scoffed quietly, “Leo, I barely remember half the jumps,” he shook his head, knowing full well that I remembered them all perfectly, “come in early tomorrow, and we could even skate together,” I laughed quietly, putting my trainers and bags into my cubby hole, peeling off my scarf, and stuffing that inside my bag.

“that makes it all better,” he laughed, his skates already on, “you’re working today?” I asked in surprise, looking over his black skates, he nodded, “can’t leave all of you to do all the work, besides, it’s been a hot minute since I skated, and I could do with the practice.” I nodded slowly as we walked back out of the locker room and out into the main space containing the rink, walking up to the side of the rink, which had already been smoothed out from the earlier practice sessions of athletes and teams, half the chaperones for the night were already waiting at the side, clearly itching to get out on the ice and forget whatever had happened during their day. 

With the centre then filling up full of skaters, we each removed the protectors on our blades and skated out onto the ice and onto the smaller staff only ice section so that we would be out of the way when the skaters eventually joined us on the ice. I stayed beside Leo as the crowds joined us on the ice, the usual slipping and sliding taking place within seconds, “so will you come in early tomorrow?” he prompted as we skated out onto the rink, “mhmm,” he smiled, patting my head gently, “it’ll be like the old days,” I chuckled at the thought.

It had been a while since I had skated with Leo, but he was someone I was always comfortable around, and as one skating group switched out for another, we continued circling the rink, stopping to help people back up as and when. It wasn’t until one of the last groups that I noticed a small woman with shining black hair on the side of the rink, she had joined the group later than everyone else, but skated far easier than anyone else had. She made no effort to circle the rink close to the railings like everyone else, and instead skated over to where Cedric was standing, tapping him on the shoulder and then wrapping him in a tight hug which he returned. 

They talked for a moment, before she slid her hand into his and they began skating around the rink, Leo followed my eyeline as they skated past us, “that’s a turn up for the books,” he commented, I didn’t reply, and instead skated over to a fallen child to help them back up. “do you recognise the girl?” I asked turning to look at Leo who had followed me over to the child, he shrugged slightly, “I think she’s a girl he went to school with,” I nodded slowly, gliding forward on my skate, “it’s ok to be a little upset,” Leo commented, taking my hand and tucking it into the front pocket of his hoodie. “I guess,” he shook his head, “it’s to be expected, and it’s totally fine,” I shrugged silently, my head a jumble of thoughts as I skated past them, gliding on the blade of my skates, and circling the rink once more, far enough away from the railings which several skaters were still clinging on to.

…..

Having agreed to meet Leo earlier than necessary at the rink, I was sat in the staff locker room, pulling my thigh high leg warmers up over the top of my skates and then up to my thighs, keeping my leggings warmer than they might otherwise have been. With my staff hoodie already on, and the thigh highs pulled up securely, I made my way back out to the rink where Leo was talking to his dad, “hello,” I murmured, smiling at the two men, as I stood beside Leo, who smiled down on me, “let’s skate.” Taking my hand, we walked out to the rink, and slid the blade covers off, skating onto the rink, with his dad and several of the other skaters watching, with the floating speakers in the air playing one of the old songs that we used to skate to. 

“remember the dance?” Leo teased as we glided easily into the centre of the rink, “do you even have to ask?” he smirked as we began skating out the dance that we had performed at gala after gala as the beginning of the dances between the various schools. My eyes didn’t leave the rink, as I repeated move after move, keeping my balance and my eyes on wherever Leo was in order to avoiding the multiple crashes that we had had when we had first learned the routine.

Spinning and skating, backwards, forwards, twirl. We continued until the music stopped, gliding away from the centre of the rink and towards the edge of the rink where the rest of the chaperones on duty that night had stood to watch in surprised silence. “as good as always,” Leo’s dad commented, clapping us, I smiled across at Leo who wrapped an arm around my shoulder, “we should skate together more often,” I nodded smiling. My eyes darted across the faces of the chaperones, finally settling on Cedric. 

His face was an interesting mix of emotions and I wondered what he was thinking, as he forced a smile onto his face when he eventually me my eye, I smiled back at him, wondering if we would get to talk about what had really led to me and Leo performing one of our old perfect routines. The thought didn’t get to linger in my mind for much longer as the rest of the chaperones joined us on the ice and began skating around for fun before the ice would need smoothing out again for the first group of skaters. While the other chaperones raced as fast as they could from one side of the rink to the other, I glided along the ice, keeping my head up and careful to avoid everyone else. 

“y/n, can we talk?” I barely heard Cedric’s presence until he appeared beside me, “of course,” I replied quietly as we glided side by side around the rink, “your routine was very impressive,” he commented, stalling the inevitable. “so, I wanted to explain myself a little,” he added, I once again remained silent as we continued skating, avoiding the others who had given up racing and were instead trying to outdo each other with their various tricks and stunts. “the girl who came and met me at the rink the other night was Cho, the girl I went to the ball with back in sixth year,” I nodded silently, deciding to wait until I had heard everything he wanted to say before I would say anything myself. 

“she came by to say hi, and said she wanted to talk about maybe trying a relationship, a proper relationship unlike the thing we had back at the time of the tournament, but I told her no,” my eyebrow rose silently, “I told her there was already this girl I was really into, who took me to her favourite food truck after work, and convinced me to try new food that I had never heard of, and that this girl was so much fun to be around and never failed to amaze me.”

A small smile rose to my lips, “you tall softie romantic,” he chuckled quietly as we glided to a stop in the middle of the ice rink, “so, what are you going to say?” a small cheeky smile reached my lips, and I placed my hands either side of his cold face, bringing his face closer to my own, and letting our lips meet as my eyes fluttered shut and cheers rang out around the room. “that answer your question?” I replied, as we reopened our eyes and smiled at each other, “oh most definitely.” 

The end.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! Another piece written (and edited and published) go me! I hope you all enjoyed reading this, I've been working on it in between school and I really like how it turned out. I still have lots more that I want to write and post here but as I said before I am back at school and we have a lot of exams and work so I don't have any particular timeline for when my next piece will be out - but keep an eye out/subscribe to be notified! Also, I'm considering if I should write a Valentines piece - I'm not the biggest fan of Valentines but I feel like I could write something cute for it - let me know in the comments if you would be interested! I also realised I never really say much about myself - so if there is something you want to know (that I'm happy to answer) feel free to leave it in the comments! I'll see you on the next piece, have a wonderful day! byeeeeeeeee~


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